Current collector



1943- I B. M. NEWBROUGH' 2,325,971

( JURRENT COLLECTOR Filed July 28, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 22 INVENTOR 85s 1121M. Ale-m9 00s ATTORNEYS C 1943- B. M. NEWBROUGH 2,3Z5;971

CURRENT COLLECTOR Filed July 28, 1941 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BEs sI M/Vswa 00a 49 V yil/ 5 ATTORNEYS.

1943- B. M. NEWBROUGH 2,325,971

CURRENT COLLECTOR Filed July 28, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Bass/ E M. NEWBROUGH f ATTO NEYS Patented Aug. 3, 1943 UNIT'EDL STA TES PATENT OFFICE,

CURRENT COLLECTOR V Bessie MlNewbroughlSeattie, Wash. Application July '28, 1941', Serial No. 404,344 30mins; o .=191-59,.1)

My inventionfrelatesto improvements in a current collector and is particularly adapted for usewith all types of vehicles operable upon electric current-that is picked up from an'overhead conduit system. e i I Where sharp curves or bends occur in the trolley Wire to conform to the layout of the street or tracks upon which the vehicle must travel, theproblem of maintaining 'a current collector oni 'the'trolley wire overhead has alwaysbeena dimcuitoneto solve. V v .v The problem has greatly increased'in' diiiiculty due to the advent of the trolley coach,'arubber-j 5 tired vehicle,'that must ordinarily be provided I with twoocollectors and under which circumstances, a-double trolley w ir'e assembly must' be provided overhead. 1 l

jfIhe -trolley coach'runs alongaistreet in the manner of'a' gas coach except thatits movement v is limited by the location of the overhead trolley wires. [In other words, a trolley coach cannot go more'tha'n a certain distance either "side of the trolley wires withoutdisrupting service. However, due to thevagaries of traffic anddue to the diificult turns caused by the confines of the street, it is quite often that the trolleys or the current collectors of the coach will come off the trolley wires and break the circuit, necessitating the laborecl effortsof the coach operator, 'orsome' assistant, "to replace the collectors on the trolley wires. Such difficultieshave never been satisfactorilysolved by mechanical means because of-the complex overhead tstruc'ture that is reduired under such circumstances.

It'has beena principal object of my invention? A un further object any invention relates to' the use of a swiveled tandem arrangement of magnetic means'and current collectoryall carried by'one trolley pole and cooperable with a single trolley wire. l e Another object ofthe invention resides in the provision or magnetic means that'rnay'be swiv eled from the-conventional currentcollector for Figure 1, l

trolley Coaches to ru n with to conform fi y to the curvatures in overheagiz m collector assemblies l. v ll Still another objector my invention 'relatesto e the provision of an improved current collecting meansf for. trolley coaches having magnetic means associated therewith all of which may. be readily manufactured and installed with extreme convenience and without the necessity of converting and avoiding the necessity of materially altering the present practice in such equipment, .l r 'A still further object'of the invention'has been the provision of simple efiicient means operable under all kinds and manner of weather condi tions, and the like to assist in maintainingthe current'coll'ector on the trolleyTwire. 1 Other objects and advantages of the'invention will be apparent during the course of the follow- 7 ing description wherein I have illustrated a pre-' ferred formof my invention ancl'a modified form of the invention. e

In'the drawings;

- Figure 1 i s' a side elevational view'of thepre fer-red fornilof current-collector and magnetically operable means that I employ. for ,maintaining the collector on the trolley wire. 7 Figure 2 is a Figure :3 is e though" taken on line-3+3 of Figure 2, i I Figure 4 is a sectional view t'aken on lined- 4 ofFigurel- Figure 5'is a head-on elevationalview of the longitudinal, sectional .view as mechanismof Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a typical plan View of the double trolley wire overhead assemblyas employed-in *a'curvearrangementi Y r Figure 7 is a perspective .view of :a swivel magnetic head employed for maintaining the current collector in place on a trolley,

Figure 8 is a vertical, sectional View taken Figure 12 is an elevational View with portions 7 broken away for convenience oi illustrating the general-arrangement of themagneticmears of plan view of the mechanism of .anism .oi the vfihiclclqn which th de ic is in- ,tion to the" current collector and their rings-43 Figure 11 as though attached to a current collector.

Referring to the drawings,- throughout which like reference characters indicate like parts, the numeral l5 designates a trolley pole generally of tubular construction having fastened on the "upper end thereof the swivel arm which is provided with a barrel H to slip over the free end 'oi the pole I5 and hold the arm in place. Pole I5 is normally biased upwardly by a spring mounting means soiliat a currentgcollector mounted on its upper end willalw'ays be present against an overhead trolley wire. The swivel arm is is provided with a head I8 that carries the swivel pin 20. A tie down loop 2| to which is fastened thetie down cord or rope 22 extends from the rear ofthe head in a manner readily accessible when -it 'ismces L sary to remove the current collector iromsthe trolley wire. r

The electrical clip 24 is fitted over thelowerend Qfthcsr d pin .0 an .the 'pin .20 and the clip 2. are mainta ne i place on he head 18 by means of a nut 25 that is loclgedin' placeby the sc ie nin 5- .A u nt con uctor wire .2? telecideal connected to ihciclip 1, w i yfif ll rent from,thec llcctorember i thaqpe atins mechstalled.- I r lin col ecto h ad is r fitt d ave the im e and 9f the sw ve pin 19 and the groove" .31- {6th gases th f an ed. swive 9W3? so that he head may f e turn an rock.onitnenin..zn.to confor t arious contours in t e tro ley system. Pre stab y carbo showclamped in p ace in gu e flansesii tha aremcu ied cntneco ector head and eld irrplace .by ,meanscof .thebolts .35.

- Th c l ct r head-13.0 is generally ci cula in site B and i rrovidcdwith a per ph ra annula Re e ri n w to Tl, aimagnetic. head comprising a cup 4! provided with 'a, lateral,lylX- tending swivel arm 42 which has the. relatively arg cn ul r swive ring 43 is ass ate with t collectgrhsa -oi the t olley mechanism. The ring 45! s f a sizas fiicient t m aro th collector head and to rest on the flange 38 as can'be clearly seen in Figure 3. 1

A pair of the magnetic heads 49*are swiveled to each collector head, one before and one behind the collector, and it; will be seen that they travel with the collectcrand rock on the pin -29 in ex-- actly thesame manner as the collector does and that they are also swiveled with relation to the collector about the axis of the rotation .of the collector itself. V

*In the form of the invention illustrated inFigwas 1, 2,-and'3, particularly, a pair of the mag netic heads are arranged fore andjatt with rela? being slipped over the bodygoi' the collector to rest upon the flanged and. they are-retained in place. by means of the tack ring v which, is threadedly eng ed. on the-head and: is held; securely against dislodgement by means oithe lock screw 5'5. i 1 e lathelon itudin l i the swir i ne ansomr inconnection with the illustrated vi w, o ish-re;

rm was shown as having the center m Ail-1 11 Whal ess mb r f. fines nbi rirQml ce-ci a earning is t e w es mannerisms created in the core 45 and flows across between the free ends of the core;

A carbon shoe 5!] provided with a plurality of openings 5! fits over the arm of the magnet and isretained in place on the cup 43 by means of the flanged guide head 52 that is secured to the cup H by screws 55.

Suitable electrical conductors 4:3 connect between a source of electrical current and the wires 48 of themagnet' head. v

Imaztypical installation at those points in the overhead trolley wire construction, where it has been found necessary or thought desirable to prevent the disruption of service by the current collector coming off the trolley, magnetically attractive conductor wires, or trolley wires, and Glare providedso that automatically, as the collectorfinits travel'on the trolley wire comes to a -'diflicult curve,for example, the energized magnetic-head will cooperate with the magnetically attractive current conductor and the two will be held together with a slidin contact during. the

. traverse .oi the collector over, the diff cult points.

It does ,not appear to -b.e..necessar -y to Ipro vide (a great amount of magnetic forceloutpnly sum-,- cientfto resist .dislodgement as itrbeginsand, to

- 7 thus prevent forward speed orcentriiugalforce from throwing the current collector from the trolley wire. I

In the case of shar p l curves and lthe like,

' through the swivel arrangement provided by the rings-43 swiveling .aroundthe collector head :30

; the magnetic mechanism and the collector will conform tered.

to practicallyl-anycurve ,to be rencoum Inlthe modified form. of invention -.'s hown in Figures ll'and 12, a single pole magnetichead 64 and 65 is arranged on either side of the gourrent collector as .'66,in,Figure12.'. A single .pole 6.1 and ,fi8, ,.irespective1y, in theheads lil -and 65 is connected .by a side. arm. &9. and --each of the arms .5! 6.8 .areencircledby a coil of wire Wise -that when energy appliedlthnoughthe 0011-, ductor 1, is pulled through the wires, the magneticgflux wilbe produced whiohwillserve in the manner aboyedescribed; f v

Suitable insulation is ,shown for the electro magnet. It is apparent, of course, that .the collectorhead 6'6 is .swiveled on the -conventional swiyel pin 20 and that the bperation ofthe mechis otherwise exactly the same as that where a plurality. of magnetsfisemployed, a

The foregoing description and the accompany-'- ing drawings are believed to clear-1 y;- disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but it will bennderstood that. this disclosure-sis merely illustrative and that such changes in the invention may be. made as are fairly within the scope and spiritwof the following claims. 7 c0 I lolaim:

an electric trolley vehicle and including a collector head having an encircling channel, of front retainer means and rear retainer means positioned in tandem relation with said collector 1 ing electro-magnetic means mounted totravel contact with a'conductor'wire, and anelectrical connection from said electro magnetic 'means to asource of electrical-supply;

1. The combination with a current collectonfor V 2. The combination with 'a current collector for an electric trolley vehicle including a collector-head mounted to oscillate in a vertical plane and swiveled to turn in a horizontal plane,

said head having an encircling channel, of retainer means having a ring fitted in said channel on-the current collector head, whereby said retainer means may swivel axially of said head but i ing an oscillatable 'andswivelled mount on the pin; of a retainer member having a horizontal swivel connection with the collector-head whereby it may only be swungaxially of said pin at right angles thereto, electro magnetic means included, inthe retainer to trav'elin' contact with a conductor wire, "and an electrical connection y from the electromagnetic means to a source of electrical energy.

BESSIEJM. NEWBROUGH.

3 I 3. The combination with a current collector having a bearing head, an upright swivel pin mounted in the head, and a collect'or-headfhav- 

